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Anambra: Emergence of two governorship candidates unsettles PDP

August 31, 2013 by Fidelis Soriwei, Abuja

Katsina State Governor Ibrahim Shema

The national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party is unsettled over the emergence of two candidates for the governorship election coming up in Anambra on November 16, 2013.

Specifically, the leadership of the party fears that the development is likely to affect its fortunes in the election.

Saturday PUNCH gathered that the party’s national leaders were battling to resolve the crisis that was caused by parallel governorship primaries in the state.

A member of the National Executive Committee, who confided in our correspondent, lamented that the emergence of two governorship candidates from the two parallel congresses in the party had been a sore point in the party’s preparation for the governorship election.

He referred to the emergence of two governorship candidates of the PDP for the same election in the state, Senator Andy Uba and Mr. Tony Nwoye, as a worrisome development.

The source said that it was rather unfortunate that the PDP had commenced yet another process that might lead to an electoral loss in Anambra State.

The source also wondered why the PDP would wait until it was very close to the election to commence the process of conflict resolution among aggrieved party members.

While Uba emerged as the candidate of the Ejike Oguebego faction of the party, Nwoye was returned as the party’s choice for the election in the congress conducted by the party’s Gubernatorial Congress Committee for Anambra State led by the Katsina State Governor, Ibrahim Shema.

Nwoye emerged from the state executive committee led by Ken Emeakayi faction, which was recognised by the national leadership of the PDP.

It was gathered that the crisis is made more intricate by the fact that while the national leadership of the PDP has adopted Nwoye as the candidate of the party, the Independent National Electoral Commission is giving recognition to Uba.

Efforts made so far by the National Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur-led committee to hear from Uba, his brother, Chris Uba, factional state chairman, Oguebego, Chief Benji Udeozor and Mrs. Tonia Nwankwu, on Wednesday, did not yield any result as the invitees ignored the PDP leadership.

Just on Wednesday, a Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt ordered the PDP and INEC to accept Uba as the party governorship candidate in Anambra,

The NEC member, who spoke with our correspondent, said, “The belief of the national leadership is that the PDP has serious problems in Anambra State. If we don’t start early enough, the party will lose that state again to the opposition.

“The problem is that we are always hurrying things when it is very close to the election. It is worrisome. If we don’t resolve the crisis we may not win the election.”

But the Special Assistant (Media) to the PDP National Chairman, Mr. Oliver Okpala, said that the PDP could not have been jittery over the forthcoming elections in Anambra State going by its vast membership in the state.

He said that Anambra had always been a PDP state and was lost to the opposition through a judicial verdict and not through the ballot.

Okpala said that the internal disputes that culminated in the loss of the state to APGA had been effectively tackled by the Tukur-led NWC through the initiation of the conflict resolution mechanism which, according to him, was yielding results in the party.

He argued that the PDP had a candidate in Anambra State who was given a certificate of return by the NWC Chairman on Wednesday.

He stressed that while only a political party was empowered to present candidates for electoral contest, INEC only has the powers to observe the congress and not to determine candidates for the party.

Okpala, however, refused to comment on the decision of the Uba faction to go to court in spite of the existing mechanism for dispute resolution in the party, saying that it would be subjudice to speak on a matter in court.

He insisted that the PDP had ensured a strict adherence to the Electoral Act in conducting the election that produced Nwoye as the party’s governorship candidate.

He said, “I don’t know the member of NEC you are talking about but speaking from a positive angle, Anambra has all along been a PDP state, APGA emerged through judicial intervention and not as a result of the party’s popularity or the number of votes cast. Everybody in Anambra is PDP.

“Even when APGA emerged, the entire assembly was being controlled by the PDP, and that shows the popularity of the PDP in the state. Now, I can tell you that all the things that made APGA to emerge have been corrected; some internal problems that emerged then have been properly resolved by the Tukur-led NWC.

“He has also set up a reconciliation committee where aggrieved persons have tabled their grievances and they have been settled. So there is no way the PDP can be jittery of losing Anambra to any other party.”

Tukur said, while handing over the certificate of return to Nwoye, that all efforts would be made to reclaim the state.

“What is happening is an internal problem of the party, some have been resolved, there are internal mechanisms through which these can be resolved. That matter, as far as I am concerned is subjudice, let’s not talk about it.

“The PDP has a candidate in the person of Tony Nwoye and the party is unwavering about it, the party has given him a certificate of return.

“It is the party that presents a candidate for an election; INEC can only observe the congress not to decide who becomes the candidate of the party.

“So there is no issue of the PDP becoming jittery, Anambra has always been a PDP state and we want it that way.”

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